Mechanical stoker



June 10 1924.

v w. T. HANNA MECHANICAL STOKER Filed July 6. 1921 5 Sheets- Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

/ A TTORNEY.

W. T. HANNA MECHANICAL STOKER June 10 1924.

Filed July 6. 192] 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

I ATTORNEY.

June 10 1924.

W. T- HANNA MECHANI CAL STOKER Filed July 6. 1921 5,Sheets-Sheet .5

d dd'o 1N VEN TOR.

(Z Q dfii June 10 1924.

W. T. HANNA MECHANI CAL STOKER Filed July 6, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

June 10, 1924.

w. T. HANNA MECHANICAL STOKER 192] 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 6 Patented June 10, 1924.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM T. HANNA, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

MECHANICAL STOKER.

Application filed July 6,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM T. HANNA, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Mechanieal Stoker, of which the following is' a specification.

My invention relates to the class of me chanical stokers which are especially adapted for use in stoking locomotive engines.

An object of my invention isto provide a device of the type referred to wherein it is possible to readily disassociate diflerent parts of the device in order that defective and broken parts of the device may be read ily removed and new parts installed in their place in a minimum of time, whereby it will be unnecessary to hold a locomotive out of service for any considerable periods of time because of stoker troubles.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device wherein continuous motion is imparted to the feed of the fuel.

Another object of my invention is to provide means whereby the feed of the fuel may be readily reversed or totally stopped.

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein and disclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a stoker mechanism embodying my invention, the observer standing at the rear end of the device and looking forwardly.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the power transmission mechanism forming a detail of my invention.

Fig. 3 is a sectional yiew on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view on line 55 of Fig. 3 showing parts seen by the observer when standing at the fore part of the stoker and looking rearwardly.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

- Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view on line 77 of Fig. 2.

The feed trough A is disposed upon the locomotive tender and communicates, by means of a suitable feed tube, with the mechanism B located on the engine. The driving mechanism 0 is disposed substantially intermediate the feed trou h A and the mechanism B, and is adapts to actuate the Y 1921. Serial N0.-482,790.

transmission mechanism D from which power is transmitted to the various moving parts of the device. The transmission mechanism D comprises various cooperating elements adapted to transmit power from the mechanism 0 to the fuel moving parts ofa into which the spiral screw-a extends andv through which the screw is adapted to move the aforesaid fuel. The spiral screw a ex tends into the feed tube a terminating adjacent the forward end thereof. .The shaft a forming a part of'the spiral screw a, extends through the rear end of the trough A and has mounted upon it a gear a, intermeshing with a ear a mounted upon the shaft a extendlng substantially parallel with the shaft a and revolubly mounted upon-the exterior of the trough A by any suitable means such as brackets a". The forward end of the shaft (1. has mounted upon it a universal joint a. An angular bar a extends forwardly from the forward member of the universal joint a". The angular barn is drivenfrom the transmission mech-- anism D in a manner which will be explained hereafter. The forward end of the feed tube a communicates with an upwardly extending feed conduit a by means of a swivel or ball and socket joint a. The feed conduit a communicates at its upper end with the interior of the casing b of the mechanism B.

The chamber 6' is formed at the lower end or bottom of the casing b and communicates with the conduit a and with the upwardly and outwardly inclined tubes 5 formed within the casing 12, and in which tubes the spiral screws 6 are adapted to be revolubly actuated. The tubes 5 and the spiral screws 71 comprise the elevating conveyers adapted to carry the fuel from the chamber 6 to a point near the upper end of the casing b, from which place the fuel is then discharged into the furnace door The casing b is preferably pear shaped and has an aperture 1) formed on its rear wall universal joint I).

' universal joint b for a b adapted to be positioned in substantially horizontal alignment with the firing door opening of a. locomotive, and which firing door opening is embraced by the forward wall of the casing 12. The doors b mounted upon the casing b are adapted to close the aperture 1) in the rear wall of the casing 72 which aperture is in substantial horizontal alignment with the firing door opening b. The sides I) of the casing are removably mounted upon the center portion thereof by bolting the same to one another, the bolts being passed through the contacting flanges 6 formed upon the central portion of the casing and upon the sides thereof. The sides 6' form substantially one-half of each of the conduits b longitudinally within which the spiral screws 6 revolubly extend. An observation door 6 is mounted upon the rear wall of the casing Z2 and when removed permits access to the chamber 6 within the casing b. The spiral screws 6 are driven from the power transmission mechanism D in a manner which will be explained hereafter. The shafts 5 on which the spiral plates of the screws 6 are mounted, extend through the lower end of the casing b and each has mounted upon it a member of a An angular socket b is formed upon the lower member of the purpose which will be explained hereafter.

The driving mechanism 0 may be an engine of any type adapted to im art reciprocating motion to a rack c exten ing into the casing d of the transmission mechanism D. The rack 0 is slidably mounted upon a rack housing 0', which extends removably into the casing d transversely thereto. The rack housing 0 has a flange 0 formed at its outer end whereby the rack housing is removably mounted upon the cylinder 0 of the engine C. A second flange a is formed on the rack housing, said second flange being removably mounted upon a flange 03 formed on the casing d. Suitable bolts are used to secure the several flanges upon one another. The rack housing has a longitudinal way 0 formed therein, within which way the rack may be longitudinally reciprocated by means of the piston rod 0 of the engine. The engine is of the reversible type, wherefore the cylinder on each side of the piston may be exhausted at will. This is of importance in the removing of foreign matter that may be admixed with the fuel and which may lodge between the parts so as to jam the parts and stop the mechanism.

The transmission mechanism comprises a casing 03', transversely to which casing and through the lower portion of which extends the rack housing 0'. The parallel-shafts d and d are revolubly mounted upon the housing and extend transversely to the line of movement of the rack c. The ends of the shaft 03 are cylindrical and have formed between them a section d substantially square in cross section. The one cylindrical end al is of a diameter greater than the section (i and the other cylindrical portion of the shaft. The enlarged portion a" is mounted upon a suitable bearing mounted upon the casing, and with the reduced portion of such shaft, which reduced portion is in like manner mounted upon a bearing mounted upon the casing, serves to revolubly mount the shaft upon the casing d. The central portion of the shaft is disposed within the chamber 03 formed within the casing d, and the ends of the shaft extend beyond the casing walls. The reduced portion of the shaft has a collar d mounted upon it and the enlarged portion has a coupling d mounted upon it, the collar and coupling comprising means limiting the lateral movement of the shaft. Tnteriorly to the chamber of, and mounted upon the shaft (Z is a sleeve d having a square central portion d upon which is mounted a toothed clutch member d". If desired the square portion of shaft (1 may be dispensed with and the clutch member d be splined thereupon. A cylindrical portion is formed on the sleeve on each side of the square portion 01'', and upon the cylindrical portions are mounted the clutch gears d and (Z The gear a? is keyed to the sleeve. A bushing d is pressed into the sleeve and provides a bearmg for the sleeve upon the shaft d The gear (i is loosely mounted upon the sleeve and engages the rack 0. D The gear OZ has formed upon its one side a series of teeth a? adapted'to intermesh with the teeth formed on the clutch member d when gear d moves ina given direction, and to disengage themselves fromthe teeth in the clutch member when gear d moves in an opposite direction. The sleeve has formed upon its end, into which the bushing al is pressed, a series of clutch teeth d" which are adapted to engage complementary clutch teeth 01 formed on the yoke d slidably mounted on the square portion 01 of the shaft d The shaft (2 has mounted upon it a gear at corresponding to the gear (i and a gear (Z corresponding to the gear d". A sleeve is revolubly mounted upon the shaft (2 in the same manner as is the sleeve 03 mounted upon the shaft 0?. The gear d is keyed to the sleeve on the shaft d and the gear d is revolubly mounted on said sleeve.

tion of the sleeve intermediate the ends thereof, and a reverse clutch member d is mounted upon the square end of the sleeve adapted to extend beyond the gear (1. The gear d has formed on its opposite side a series of teeth at and d constructed as are the teeth on the gear at".

clutch member d during the time when the teeth al on the gear d are out of engagement with the teeth on the clutch member d .such positions that the teeth thereof will not engage the teeth on the gears (Z and d. This arrangement will be explained hereafter.

' The shaft (1 is mounted upon suitable bearings which in turn are mounted upon the casing d in substantially the same manner as are mounted the bearings supporting the shaft (1 upon the casing. The stud shafts (Z are mounted in the lower part of the casing below and parallel with the shafts d and d and have mounted upon them the combined spur and bevel gears d. The spur teeth of these gears intermesh with one another and also engage one with the teeth of gear d and the other with the teeth of gear d. The bevel gear portions of the gears d engage the bevel gears d. mounted upon the vertical shafts d mounted upon suitable bearings mounted upon the casmg. The upper ends of the shafts 03 extend from the casing and have mounted upon them a coupling i of a universal joint. From the foregoin it will be apparent that motion fIOIIl bOfil of the gears 01 andcl may be transmitted jointly to both the bevel gears d.

A tube shaft (i parallel with shafts d, d and d, is mounted upon the casing and extends through the chamber d and has formed in it the vertical slots ii, (1 and d Interiorly to the shaft, and extending longitudinally .thereof, is a rod J having a bifurcated end d and a threaded end (1 A pin (1 extends through the slots (1 in the tube shafts and extends between the branches of the bifurcated end of the rod. A shoulder d is formed at the junction of the bifurcated end of the rod with the center portion of the rod. A block at is slidably mounted upon the rod d and has extending from it the pins d which extend through the elongated slots (Z in the tube shaft. A fork or yoke d is slidabl mounted upon the exterior of the tube s aft and is secured to the block (1 by means of the pins 03. The stud bearing d" on the band bearings mounting the clutch members engage the fork. A second block (Z is mount- The teeth d. are adapted to mesh with the teeth on the ed upon a rod (1 and is in like manner-connected with a yoke or fork d mounted upon the exterior of the tube shaft.- The yoke or fork d has pivotally mounted upon its opposite ends the clutch members d and d". The fork d has pivotall mounted upon its one end the clutchmem er d, the

tained within the tube shaft, has mountedadjacent itsthreaded end an abutment block d between which abutment block and the block d is mounted a spring d. Lock nuts d" mounted upon the threaded end of the rod d are employed to adjust the tension of the spring (1 upon the blocks (1 and d. The block d engages the shoulder (Z on the rod and therefore is acted'upon by spring d. In order to provide ready access to the lock nuts d", the end ofthe tube shaft extending from the casing has mounted upon it a ca (1 which may be removed in order to ad ust the lock nuts d.

The uncapped end of the tube shaft extends from the other end of the casing and is operatively connected with a lever d, whereby the tube shaft may be reciprocated in the direction of its length. The reci rocation of the tube shaft is employe to move .the clutch members into engagement with the gears d and d The couplings 05" mounted upon the upper ends of the vertical shafts d" have each mounted upon them a complementary coupling d, the two couplings forming part of a universal joint. Each couplin d has an angular shank formed upon 1t which telescopes into the angular socket 6 formed on the lower end of one of the universal joints 6 The coupling d mounted upon the enlarged end of the shaft d has mounted upon it the complementary coupling (Z 9, thereby providing a universal joint, and the said complementary coupling has formed upon it an angular socket d into which the angular bar a extends telescopically. A suitable lever a? is connected with the fork d in order to control'the transmission of motion from the sleeve d through the shaft (Z to the shaft a".

A lever c", operative upon the engine C, is adapted to control the operation of this engine. 1

Suitable means such as the notched plate 03 shown adjacent the lever d, may be employed with the respective levers to lock the different levers in their various posi- 4 tions. The notched plate (2 with which the lever d controlling the movement of thetube shaft d cooperates, has disposed within it three notches whereby the tube shaft may be retained in such positions that the clutch members may be retainedin any one of three positions, firstly, wherein all the clutch members are out of engagement with the gears (Z and d, secondly, wherein the clutch members al and (Z may engage the gears d" and d, and thirdly wherein the clutchmember a? may engage the gear d. The lever d is pivotally mounted upon a transverse shaft d, pivotally mounted upon the exterior of the easing. An arm d is connected with the tube shaft 01 by means of a link (1" pivotally connected with the arm at and with the tube shaft 03.

The operation of my device is as follows:

When the parts are in the positions as shown in the accompanying drawings, the rack c is free to be reciprocated and to thereby revolubly actuate the clutch gears 03 and (Z without imparting any motion to the conveyers. Assuming now that the rack 0 is being reciprocated andthat the lever (Z is actuated so as to move the tube shaft (i in such direction that the cap d is moved further from the casing (Z than is shown in Figs. 2 and 4, wherefore the clutch members (1 and (Z assume such positions that their respective teeth may engage the teeth upon the gears (Z and (Z respectively. The yoke d, because of its pivotal mounting upon the pins d, and because ofthe action of spring (Z 'upon said pivotal mounting, causes the clutch membersd and di to alternately be moved intoand out of engagement with the gears 1 and d respectively. In this way motion" is transmitted first from the gear (Z to the sleeve (i to the gear (1", and then to the combined bevel and spur gears d, from "which the elevating conveyers are actuated,

and then after the rack has completed its stroke in one directionand the clutch member 03 is disengaged from the gear 0!, the geard is free to be revolubly actuated in an opposite direction without edecting the movement of. the sleeve (i while the gear (i is impartingmotion through its complementary clutch member (1 to the sleeve mounting the gear d ,.and from this sleeve to the gear d, and to the combined bevel and s ur gears (Z 'H It should be observed that t ere is a continuous movement of the sleeves upon which the clutch gears (Z and 03 are mounted, although these gears alternately are the driving forces actuating these sleeves. Therefore, when the clutch d is moved into engagement with the'sleeve d, a continuous motion is imparted from the sleeve 65 to'the shaft a extending par-v allel with the conveyer disposed below the eonora ber 12 is moved into engagement with the gear 02 'lhe yoke d together with the spring d5 actuates the clutch member d in the same manner in which the clutch members (i and d are actuated. It should be observed that during the reverse operation there is an intermittent motion transmitted to the conveyers. This intermittent action of the conveyers is suficient to provide the necessary movement of the fuel which might be necessary in order to permit the removal of obstructions from the conveyers, etc, and which removal of obstructions would he one of the reasons why the revem would he used. It should be observed that with this arrangement it is possible to discontinue the feed of fuel from the tender to the elevating mechanism while the elevating mechanism is operative either in a forward or a reverse action.

Fuel from the tender-is fed into the conveyer trough A and this passes through the feed tuhe a by means ot the spiral screw trend the extension thereof. After the fuel is discharged into the chamber .7) in the casing b, it is elevated by the elevatin conveyers disposed within the casing I), an discharged in the firing door of the engine.

lii'hat ll claim is:

1. Tu a stoher mechanism the combination of an elevating mechanism comprising a pear shaped casing adapted to embrace a firing door of a furnace, upwardly and outwardly inclined feed tubes in the casing communicating at their tops with the firing door opening and attheir bottoms communicating with a common chamber formed in the casing, spiral screws in the inclined feed tubes and extending through the lower wall of the casing, a feed trough, a conduit communicating with the feed trough and the common chamber through the rear wall of the casing, a spiral screw mounted in the feed trough extending through the wall thereof and into the cbnduit, a shaft mounted on the feed trough, intermeshing gears on said shaft and on the end of the last mentioned spiral screw, an engine, and a power transmission mechanism actuated by the engine for actuating the shaft mounted on the feed trough'and the spiral screws in the pear shaped casing.

2. In a stoher mechanism the combination of an elevating mechanism comprising a pear shaped casing adapted to embrace a firing door of a furnace, upwardly and out wardly inclined feed tubes in the casing communicating at their tops with the firing door opening'and at their bottoms commum'cating with a common chamber formed in the caslng, an observatlon door 1n the rear -wall of the casing, spiral screws in the inclined feed tubes and extending through the lower wall of the casing, a feed trough,

a conduit communicating with the feed spiral screw, an engine, a power transmission mechanism actuated by I the engine adapted to continuously and revolubly actuate the shaft on the feed trough and the.

spiral screws in the pear shaped casing, and means to selectively and collectively drive the last mentioned spiral screws and the shaft.

3. In a stoker mechanism the combination of an elevating mechanism comprising a pear shaped casing adapted to embrace a firing door of a furnace, upwardly and outwardly inclined feed tubes in the casing communicating at their tops with the firing door opening and at their bottoms communicating with a common chamber formed in the casing, spiral screws in the inclined feed tubes and extending'through the lower 'wall of the casing, a feed trough, a conduit communicating with the feed trough and the common chamber in the casing through the rear wall thereof, a spiral screw mounted in the feed trough extending through the wall thereof and into the conduit, a shaft mounted on the feed trough, intermeshing' gears on said shaft and on the' end of the last mentioned spiral screw, an engine, a power. transmission mechanism actuated by the engine adapted to continuously and revolubly actuate the shaft on the feed trough and the spiral screws in the pear shaped casing, means to selectively and collectively drive the last mentioned spiral screws and the shaft, and lever actuated means to reverse the movement of the spiral screws and the shaft.

4. In a stoker mechanism the combination of an elevating conveyer, a feed trough, a

feeding conveyer adapted to move fuel from' the feed trough to the elevating conveyer, a reversible engine, a transmission mechanism operatively connected with the engine, with the elevating mechanism and with the feeding conveyer mechanism, adapted to convert the motion imparted thereto by the engine into a continuous forward motion of the conveyer mechanisms, and lever actuated means to reverse the,act1on of the conveyer mechanisms.

' 5. In a stoker mechanism the combination of an elevating conveyer, a feed trough, a feeding conveyer adapted to move fuel from the feed trough tothe elevatingconveyer, a reversible engine, power transmission means operatively connected with the engine adapted to impart continuous motion to the elevating conveyer and to the feeding conveyer,and means to render the feeding conveyer'inoperat-ive during the movement of the elevating mechanism.

6, In a stoker mechanism the combination of an elevating conveyer, a feed trough, a feeding conveyer adapted to move fuel from the feed trough to the elevating conveyer, a reversible engine, a transmission mechanism operatively connected with the engine, with the elevating mechanism and with the feeding conveyer mechanism, adapted to convert the motion imparted thereto by the WILLIAM-T. :z A. 

